Desalinization: Technologies & Market Opportunities.
The Role of Environmental Baseline Studies and
Impact Assessment to Evaluate the Feasibility of
a Desalination Project.
Rogelio Vázquez González.
Department of Applied Geophysics, CICESE, rvazquez@cicese.mx
Panel topic: “Desalination Technology Advances Worldwide
San Diego California, January 28, 2011
Introduction
The southwest of USA and northwest of Mexico
are one of the fastest growing regions. We are
faced with the challenge of expanding the basic
service infrastructure to fulfill
the growing
demand, particularly fresh water.
Several binational efforts have been strongly
promoted in the last years:
• Binational Desalination Meeting Otay Water District July 14, 2010
• Mexico Water and Wastewater Projects: Opportunities for U.S. Business
Seminar Organized by U.S. Commercial Service at AWWA ACE09
San Diego CA. June 15, 2009
• ARIZONA-MEXICO COMMISION SUMMER PLENARY 2009 Water Committee
Phoenix Arizona June 5, 2009
• Binational Cooperative Process, New Water Supplies Work Group
San Diego California, August 5, 2008
• ARIZONA-MEXICO COMMISION SUMMER PLENARY 2008 Water Committee
Phoenix Arizona June 20, 2008
• Seminar on: Doing Business in Mexico Water Industry American Water Works
Association Atlanta Georgia, June 9, 2008
South of the border, the sources for the
water being supplied to satisfy the current
demand, are being operated at the limit of
their capacity and locally there is no other
groundwater sources .
Given that, Water Authorities have considered
desalination sea water to satisfy their requirements.
Which method of desalination
is most appropriate?
Membrane processes
– Reverse Osmosis
– Nanofiltration
– Electro-Dialysis Reversal
– Forward Osmosis
Thermal processes
– Flash Distillation
– Multi-Effect Distillation
– Membrane Distillation
Reverse osmosis (RO) is the most popular desalination
process used in the world. Improvements in efficiency
have led to reduce energy consumption, cheaper
processing costs.
Where ?
Desalination: a $10 Billion Industry!
As we have seen in the previous presentations
desalination is an industry, $10 billion industry.
Indeed there is a huge market regarding
desalination projects and new technology
development will play a central part in the
business.
Now the question:
How many of these 10 billion dollars will be lost
by the lack of well-conducted baseline studies
and proper environmental impact assessment?
Ensenada
Project:
Desalination
Plant
Feasibility
In October 2009, the State Water Commission
of Baja California, established a General
Agreement for Collaboration with the Center
for Scientific Investigation and Higher
Education
of
Ensenada
(CICESE)
to
characterize the site to place a desalting plant
and perform the Environmental Impact
Assessment.
CICESE is a Public Research institution
coordinated by the National Council for
Science and Technology (CONACYT ).
Organization
GENERAL DIRECTION
Administrative
Innovation and Development
Telematics
Graduates
Earth Sciences
•Applied
Geophysics.
•Geology.
•Seismology.
Applied Physics
Oceanography
•Computer Sciences.
•Aquaculture.
•Optics .
•Marine Ecology.
•Electronics and
Telecommunications.
•Biological
Oceanography.
• Physical
Oceanography.
http://www.cicese.edu.mx/
Experimental and
Applied Biology
•Conservation
Biology.
•Marine
Biotechnology.
•Experimental
Microbiology.
Baseline studies for evaluating potential locations for
desalinization plants;
Relevant aspects:
Geology and Geochemistry
Geohydrology and Geophysics
Inland and marine Ecology
Oceanography
Power supply
Development plans
Population projections
Key components of the facility:
•The water intake.
•The disposal of rejected water
Specific studies inland for evaluating and characterize
potential sources and type of water intake
Site specific studies for evaluating potential locations
BATHYMETRY
CTD
(Conductivity, Temperature, Depth)
Environmental impact assessment
Modeling dispersion of water rejected.
Baseline studies for evaluating the composition and
abundance of major groups of zooplankton and benthos
in the area adjacent to the potential location of the
intake and discharge facilities.
Thanks !